To Beat the Best
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: Marceline's gone, Finn's depressed, and someone is stirring up trouble.
1. Chapter 1

SHICK

"Hey Finn, I-"

SHICK

"It been a while since we-"

SHICK

"I promise, I'll always be-"

SHIIICK

Finn set the razor down staring at the blood running out of his arms at an alarming rater. He didn't feel any fear, or pain, in fact, he rarely felt anything these days. He hadn't felt any happiness, or joy, excitement, or even amusement in months. He didn't even really feel sadness, loss, or despair since she left him alone.

How had he gotten this way? Most people would just say he was depressed and couldn't let go. That may be true to some extent but in all honesty, he, and he alone, knew the truth. He knew it almost as well as he knew her smell, or her voice, the feeling of her hand in his, or what she would say at any given moment, or the way she could make him smile with a single sentence no matter what. Most of all, what he knew best about her, what he could never forget even if he wanted to, was the way her eyes would always light up around him in a way no one else had ever been able to make them, in a way that always kept his brain from functioning and turned his brain to mush. If he had been asked to describe Heaven on Earth, he would have said one word, and one word only. Marceline.

* * *

5 months ago

* * *

Marceline sat below the tree calmly and smiled as Finn glanced at her again. She knew that it wasn't so much that he was looking at her body as it was that he was making sure she was still there. She had been doing the same thing because both felt the day had been too perfect to be real. The day had started with a jam session like always and then they had gone to Finn's house for their bathing suits. Marceline had hidden hers under Finn's mattress. He knew it was her that did it but that didn't stop him from turning crimson when she teased him for stealing her bathing suit.

After she had stopped teasing him long enough for them to change, Marceline flew them to the beach which they found empty. Marceline had had the sense to go to a lake rather than the ocean and they spent most of the day entertaining themselves with volleyball, a brawl, tanning, and swimming. Then a pack of Why-wolves and two dragons had attacked and they spent a half hour fighting them before Marceline flew them to a large field where a single tree stood in the center. Its branches were just thick enough to keep rain off them if it began to but were thin enough to be able to see the stars at night on a clear day. The day had been absolutely perfect for them and both were slightly afraid that it was a dream. The reason they had spent the day together was that Marceline had missed his birthday by a day and wanted to make it up to him.

"Happy birthday Finn," Marceline said after a while. "Sorry I missed it."

"It's alright," Finn said. "You made up for it."

Marceline smiled and leaned on his shoulder. He rested his chin on the top of her head and stared out at the sun that was beginning it set. He was now eighteen, physically as old as Marceline. They had stayed best friends since their first meeting while Finn had grown further away from Princess Bubblegum, only going to see her when the candy kingdom was in danger, had all but abandoned Flame Princess, and Jake had moved in with Lady Rainicorn.

"So how come you and me are best friends if you hate everyone else?" Marceline asked.

"Guess you're just my type," Finn said then blushed and hastily added, "not the way it sounded."

"I don't know," Marceline grinned. "I think you just liked what you saw that day you hid in my closet."

Finn again turned crimson but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Relax, I'm just kidding," Marceline laughed. "I don't think you liked it, I know you did."

Finn's blush darkened and Marceline laughed again, sitting up to look at him.

"Busted," Marceline grinned.

Finn rolled his eyes, forcing the blush to go away and looked past Marceline at the sunset. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't be able to watch it but Marceline had set up a thick plastic wall that allowed just enough shade for the light to not hurt Marceline. It was a neat trick since it allowed them to watch the sunset but the sunset now appeared blurry and distorted. It was still better than nothing, though.

"The sunset's beautiful," Marceline stated looking at the sunset. "Shame I can't watch it without that pathetic piece of plastic, though."

"Without it you'd be charcoal," Finn stated. "And what a shame that would be."

"Yeah," Marceline grinned. "Then you'd have to have someone else beat the crap out of you in a bikini."

"But you do it so well," Finn pointed out. "And you look stylish doing it."

"Somebody has to be totally awesome," Marceline grinned.

"And nobody does it better than you," Finn smirked. "That's why I hang around you. Maybe you'll rub off on me someday."

"Maybe someday," Marceline grinned, Finn instantly catching her double meaning. "But today, it's your birthday. And you have to choose a birthday present."

Finn blinked in surprise but after a moment, he closed his eyes and began to think. Then, he smiled, the only thing he really wanted clear in his mind and his eyes opening to see Marceline watching him carefully.

"If I could have anything I wanted for my birthday," Finn said thinking carefully about how o word it. "It would be...a kiss."

"Really," Marceline grinned then leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "That what you meant?"

"Not even close," Finn grinned.

Then, he gently pulled her lips to his. Marceline smirked into the kiss, returning it almost instantly. Finn smiled as well and they stayed like that for a long while. Finally Marceline pulled away and lay against his chest again smiling and keeping her eyes closed. Finn rested his chin on her head again smiling as well.

"I love you Marcy," Finn muttered, not entirely on purpose but truthfully none the less.

At first Marceline said nothing then began to shake slightly as she sobbed, "I love you too Finn."

Then, she was sprinting away on her feet rather than flying. Finn blinked in surprise before chasing her. After a few minutes of trying to catch her, shouting for her to stop and apologizing for whatever he did wrong, he skidded to a halt as she flew away, leaving him standing on the edge of a cliff. Finn watched her fly away in the direction of her house before disappearing into the distance. Then, he turned and walked back through the woods that he was now thoroughly lost in, hoping to find his way back to the beach. Finally he found his way to the tree and from there back-tracked their path to the beach then home.

Over the next few days, he called her probably a hundred times before going over to her house to see if she would talk to him face to face but the house was empty. Her stuff was gone, everything was obsessively clean and there was a note on the table in the dining room. He picked it up and sat down hard.

"Dear Finn, I'm sorry about what happened. I know I hurt you and I apologize. I've gone to the Nightosphere. I won't be back. The house and the cave are both yours. I won't need them anymore. I'm going to be helping Dad rule the Nightosphere, without the necklace this time, I promise, and will continue to do so for at least another thousand years. So this is goodbye. I will never see you again. I'm very sorry that I have to leave. But it's time for me to stop pretending I'm not my father's daughter. I'm sorry. I'll miss you. All my love, Marceline the Nightosphere's Queen."

Finn reread the note a hundred more times until he could recite it before letting it fall to the ground. Marceline couldn't be gone. She had always been there, at least since she arrived. So how was it fair that just when Finn finally fell in love with her, she just packed up and left? Finn wasn't sure how long he stayed there but when he finally left he cave the stars were out when it had been morning when he got there.

He went to his tree-house and retrieved the crystal Jake had left so that they could communicate, Jake being sure to have Lady make it translate all messages to and from English so Finn could read it. Finn wrote down a brief explanation of what happened and then transferred it to the crystal before sending it. After well over three hours of waiting and no message coming back, he tried again with the same result but waiting only a few minutes. He got his brother's language translation dictionary out and worked for an hour, translating his message before sending the translation. This time a short message returned, in English. It was short, simple, and anything but sweet.

"Fuck off Finn. I'm too busy to deal with your shit."

Finn stared at the message for a long time before hurling the crystal at the wall, the crystal shattering into a dozen pieces. No one was left to talk to except PB. She was his last hope. Hopefully, she had some idea what had happened. When he arrived at Princess Bubblegum's castle, he was allowed in by the banana guards that Finn still met once in a while. Princess Bubblegum was sitting in her throne and didn't looked happy or angry at Finn's presence, seeming more or less neutral.

"I need your help, for once," Finn stated.

"With what?" Princess Bubblegum stated.

Finn gave her the short version of what had happened and Princess Bubblegum stared at him for a moment before lowering her head to the floor.

"Finn," Princess Bubblegum sighed. "You're a fool. Marceline is an immortal vampire. You really believe that she would possibly stay with you until you died? You really don't understand anything do you? You really thought that you could be with an immortal? That an immortal, to whom your short little life is just a brief flash, could possibly love you back? You should have known it would end poorly. Go home and get over it. You'll meet someone else soon enough. You've certainly blown through enough of them already."

"But-"

"I'm sorry Finn but your own foolishness brought this on so you have to deal with it," Princess Bubblegum stated. "Now please leave. I have other things to do."

Finn sighed and turned to leave. By the time he had reached his house, his depression was at an all time high. Then, he saw the gift that Marceline had left him and broke. It was the same necklace that he had given her on her birthday that featured an axe-base and a bat's wing crossed and Finn had spent a small fortune to have it enchanted to keep her from craving blood while wearing it. She had left it on the table along with another note saying that he should keep it since it meant more to him than her. The moment Finn's eyes left the note, they spotted a razor a distance away that he usually used to open packages. He grabbed it and walked to his bedroom before doing what he thought he never would have. And the moment he did, he felt great. He knew it was horrible to do but also knew, he couldn't get enough. Just like he knew it would only spiral from there. But he didn't care. What else did he have to make him happy?

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Adventure Time or any of the characters.

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Shadow of a Shadow

Finn stared at the wall in silence. Blood pooled beneath him and coated his arms and most of his upper body. Days drifted by in a blur of nothing but pain, blood, and silence. He couldn't remember where BMO was, assuming he was still living there at all. He wasn't sure how long it had been since Marceline left. It could have been a week, it could have been a year. All he knew was, he wanted it to end.

Finn looked around the room, seeing all of the trophies and pictures that had once brought him happiness. None registered. The hole in the window did though. Rain pattered against the outside of the house and poured in through the broken window.

_Window's broken,_ Finn thought groggily, trying to move his arm with no success. _Fuck it. Too tired._

He set his head back against the wall breathing heavily as his arms pulsed painfully. He slowly looked down and saw nothing but red. Then, he looked back up at the door as Jake and Princess Bubblegum rushed through it and froze.

"FINN! ! !" Jake shouted running over and kneeling, using his ears to cover Finn's arms while checking his pulse. "Come on Bro, you gotta get up! We gotta leave before it gets here so you can get better and kick this freaks crack!"

Finn stared at him blankly for a moment before spitting blood into his face from where he had bitten his cheek.

"What the hell Finn!?" Jake shouted wiping the blood off his face.

"Fuck off Bro," Finn growled, glaring at Jake. "I'm too busy to deal with your shit."

"Finn!" Princess Bubblegum gasped.

"Don't," Jake sighed standing. "He's spitting my own words back at me. I admit I earned that one."

Finn spat again, splattering blood over Jake's face and he growled but wiped his face clean again.

"That too," Jake growled.

"Finn, you need-" Princess Bubblegum began but stopped when Finn spit in her face as well.

"You earn that?" Jake questioned.

"No!" Princess Bubblegum snapped wiping her face only for Finn to do it again.

"Your own foolishness brought this on so you have to deal with it," Finn growled before spitting again. "Now please fucking leave. I have other things to do."

"Sounds like you earned it," Jake pointed out, earning another face-full of blood. "One more fucking ti-"

Finn spat again and Jake grew until the house exploded, picking Finn and Princess Bubblegum up and running away from the Candy Kingdom.

"Finn, we need your help and we're sorry for what we said," Jake stated as he ran. "But there's something you should know."

* * *

Princess Bubblegum stepped out of her lab as Jake skidded around a corner, sprinting toward her.

"Trouble!" Jake shouted grabbing her hand and running toward the nearest exit, a window.

He stretched them both to the ground and began running as the castle exploded. Princess Bubblegum looked around as he ran. The Candy Kingdom was burning. buildings lay in shambles all over, some being completely leveled. Candy people lay in pieces all over the place. Banana Guards by the dozens, Starchie, Cinnamon Bun, Peppermint Butler, Dr. Donut, Dr. Ice Cream, Nurse Pound Cake, Manfried, Mr. Cupcake, and dozens of others. As they reached the gate, a massive column of blood red smoke shot into the sky in an explosion, a shadow silhouetted in it. The thing was humanoid but with its claws were the length of its forearms and it seemed to be only a shadow because it had an open mouth with sharp pointed teeth that was an opening in the silhouette that was facing the two o them straight on.

"What do we do?" Princess Bubblegum questioned. "Go find Billy?"

"No," Jake said shaking his head. "It killed Billy. We'll have to go get Finn."

"He hasn't been out of his house in months," Princess Bubblegum stated.

"No choice," Jake growled growing to run faster.

* * *

"We can't fight this thing without you!" Jake stated slowing to a stop and shrinking down then running into their new hiding place with them both. "We need your help!"

"Too fucking bad," Finn growled. "I'm done. I'd have been better off if you'd left me back in my tree."

"Fine," Jake sighed. "You're depressed, we're all assholes. Now will you fight this thing?"

"No," Finn refused smiling up at his with his bloodshot eyes closed. "You're on your own. Good luck."

Jake stared at him for a moment before standing and picking up his father's demon blood sword.

"Fine," Jake growled. "I'll go fight it. I'll see you around. Maybe."

And with that, Jake turned and left, making his way back toward the Candy Kingdom. After about an hour of nothing, Princess Bubblegum, who had bandaged Finn's nearly shredded arms, stood, walking to the edge of the cave and looked out, curling her left hand into a fist as her right rested against the mouth of the cave.

"You're not going to go after him are you?" Princess Bubblegum questioned.

"Why should I?" Finn questioned. "Everyone dies someday. Hopefully today is mine."

"You changed Finn," Princess Bubblegum sighed. "You're not a hero. Not anymore. Now, you're just a coward. Too afraid of being alone to let go of Marceline. So instead, you give up on the world. You cut your arms open several times a day and you seek the death that continues to elude you. If by some miracle we all survive this, never set foot in my kingdom again. You're no longer welcome."

And with that, Princess Bubblegum left the cave, making her way through the heavy rain that had begun to fall at some point. Finn rested his head against the wall again but froze. It wasn't stone. He looked up to see faded violet paint, broken shingles, and a broken window. He reached out to a shard of broken glass, resting it on his wrist but stopped looking up at the house again before looking around.

"Marceline," Finn breathed finally recognizing the place.

He pushed himself up and looked out of the cave, into the storm. Then at the glass again.

"Jake!" He gasped sprinting out into the rain and toward the Candy Kingdom.

After a few minutes, he stopped when he saw what was left of his house. Sorrow and regret gripped his chest. He continued, pushing himself as fast as he could but as he reached the ruins of the Candy Kingdom, Jake's footprints curved right. He followed and soon found Jake lying amongst several dead goblins. Finn dropped to his knees beside Jake, feeling for a pulse before his shoulder slumped and began to tremble.

"I'm sorry Jake," Finn whispered. "I'm going to set things right. I'm just sorry I'm too late."

With that, he looked around for the sword but saw it was gone. He stood and continued the way Jake had been heading, this time following circles of dead grass a bit further apart than his own footprints. Finally he found the creature, matching Jake's description of it but stood about a head and a half taller than Princess Bubblegum, who was impaled on its arm. Finn sprinted forward, the creature throwing Princess Bubblegum into him. He took the sword from her, setting her down and charged at the creature.

It grinned and slashed at him. He blocked it but the hand passed through the sword, likely how he had beaten Princess Bubblegum. Fin threw himself to the side, landing in a roll, then stood and readied himself again. The creatures held its hands out to its sides and Finn sprinted forward, jumping and slashing vertically at the top of the creature's head. At the last second, the creature's hand flashed up, smashing Finn's sword away, making his eyes widen, before the hand turned over and flashed back the other way, spinning Finn through the air as blood splattered across the ground.

As usual, Finn felt no pain as his body was ripped open. Or when he crashed to the ground, scraping his whole body on the rough gravel. Blood flowed out of him rapidly as he lay motionless and the creature turned, continuing on its journey. Finn made no attempt to move. Why should he? Wasn't death what he had wanted for so long? As his vision began to fade, something moved in the distance. An angel was flying down to retrieve his soul. An angel that looked a lot like...

_Marceline__..._ Finn thought as his vision faded completely, his vision of Marceline less than ten feet from him as it did.

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Adventure Time or any of the characters.

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Aftermath 1

The funeral was short. The rain that had begun to fall stung the skin of those present, and they had formed a sea of sorrowful and grief-stricken faces. The princess that were still alive all said a few words about Ooo's greatest hero. Then, his casket was lowered into the hole and everyone there threw in a handful of dirt. By the time it was over, people had had to pick up dirt from the ground around the hole to throw. Then, they dispersed, none of them wanting to meet the thing that had killed their hero. Marceline finally descended from her place in the sky, tears flowing from her eyes for the first time in decades, it felt like. The rain hid that fact, but she wouldn't have denied it if anyone had asked. She was too tired, to broken, to try to shield herself now.

"Damnit Finn," Marceline growled staring down at her hero's grave. "Why couldn't you just stay where you were? Why did you have to try to fight him?"

"Because he wanted to try to protect what he cared about," Jake stated, limping over with his crutch. "Because he wanted to make sure that Ooo was safe if you ever returned. He loved you Marceline."

"I know," Marceline mumbled. "That was why I left. I couldn't bare the pain of losing him. So I thought that maybe it would hurt less if he moved on."

"He didn't," Jake stated. "Once you left, it just got worse and worse. He was cutting by the end. He hadn't left the treehouse in days."

Marceline nodded then looked back at the grave, sinking to her knees, arms wrapping around herself as she finally broke down into sobs. Jake stayed a bit longer before limping up beside her and sitting down.

"Can't you make him a vampire?" Jake asked.

"He would have to be alive," Marceline sobbed.

Jake nodded and set his crutch beside himself then sighed.

"Guess we go with plan B then," Jake stated.

Marceline looked over at him and he looked up at her knowingly.

"He can't," Marceline sighed. "Finn was too pure to be sent to Death's realm. He was sent to Heaven. He's unreachable."

Jake sighed and nodded just as a portal to the Nightosphere opened and Abadeer stepped through.

"Is it true?" Abadeer asked. "Is Finn..."

"He's dead," Marceline stated.

"And in Heaven I would imagine," Abadeer sighed. "I can bring him back but only for a moment. You must turn him into a vampire, if not, there will be no stopping the shadow. But you know what that means for Finn's soul, don't you?"

"Yes," Marceline nodded, tears running down her face. "He'll never be accepted into Heaven again if I do."

Abadeer nodded and used his telekinesis to bring Finn's body up out of the hole then mend his wounds. Then, he set him in front of Marceline who smiled, gently wiping some mud off of his cheek. Abadeer pulled out his pocket wach and pointed at Finn and Finn's eyes fluttered open. He looked around before seeing Marceline and his eyes widened.

"M...Marceline," Finn breathed.

"Please hold still," Marceline smiled. "I'll try not to hurt you."

She leaned down, biting his neck and Finn grit his teeth against the pain as his vision began to fade. After a moment, Marceline sat back up to see Finn's eyes had glassed over again. She looked up at Abadeer who shook his head.

"No," she breathed. "You promised! You said you could keep him here long enough for me to save him!"

"I said I could keep him here for only a moment," Abadeer corrected before his shoulders sunk slightly. "I'm sorry Marceline."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Marceline screamed, sobbing again. "You lied to me! You said you could save him! You said you could save Finn...could save Mom! You're a liar! I hate you! I never want to see you again!"

Abadeer stared at her, shocked, for a moment, before turning and walking back through the portal, looking back as it closed. Once it was, Marceline covered her face, sobbing into her hands. After a moment, a pair of arms wrapped around her. For a moment, she thought it was Jakes, then realized they were too cold and they had no fur. Her eyes snapped open and she spun around, wrapping her arms around Finn, squeezing her eyes closed again once she had seen who it was.

"I'm sorry," Finn whispered. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright, it worked," Marceline smiled into his shoulder. "It worked. You're back."

"That's not what I meant," Finn stated.

Marceline pulled back a bit then leaned forward, kissing him. He kissed her back, hugging her against himself. After several moments they pulled away and Marceline rested her head on his shoulder.

"What do we do about him?" Finn asked. "My sword couldn't touch him."

"You're right," Marceline nodded. "I know where to find a better one. But you need to be careful, even with it. He'll probably recognize the blade before you can use it, and if not, you'll only get one shot before he does recognize it. Id he does, he'll probably be a better fighter than you."

"Probably," Finn nodded. "But for now, we need that sword."

Marceline nodded and stood, Finn doing the same before looking toward Jake.

"PB?" Finn asked.

Jake shook his head and Finn nodded.

"Alright," Finn nodded. "You go home. Marcie and I will handle this."

Jake nodded and Marceline picked up Finn, flying away.

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